Friday, September 12, 2003

explodedlibrary: my experience with eBooks - at home and at work. This Slashdot discussion about bn.com's decision to discontinue selling eBooks reminded me to write about my own experience with eBooks. First, my experience of eBooks at work. About a year ago, my library started subscribing to netLibrary's eBook collection. These titles are now catalogued, and I come across them from time to time in my reference work. The downside is the somewhat cumbersome individual registration process, complete with another username and password to remember. The upside is that once this has been completed, library users can login and use available eBooks anywhere with an internet connection, 24/7. Still, even when the initial registration has been completed, accessing an eBook from a library catalogue is a multi-step process. - Select the link within the library catalogue to view the eBook in netLibrary - Login to netLibrary - Decide whether you just want to browse the book briefly or "check it out" for a longer period (during which time, other users can't check out the book - obviously an anachronistic concession to copyright law) Unless your internet connection is really slow, all of the above is still probably faster than pulling a book from the library shelves. netLibrary has several enhancements for the eBook medium. It allows you to search the full-text of the book for search terms. This is particularly nice for reference librarians who might be trying to find whether a particular book mentions a particular issue. A good printed index is better than most search engines any day, and fortunately, if a book does have an index, you can browse through it on netLibrary. netLibrary also allows you to make bookmarks and notes in the books that you are reading. I have noticed that some netLibrary books can be viewed natively within the browser, while other titles can only be viewed via the Adobe Reader. I don't know if this is because of DRM (Digital Rights Management), but it is far more cumbersome and difficult to view titles within the Adobe Reader. Also, the variation here is disconcerting. I have tried printing a couple of pages from a netLibrary book and didn't have any problems. So on the whole, the netLibrary collection of books is a helpful addition to our library's collection. netLibrary's law collection is not huge, but it does contain a lot of Nolo legal self-help titles which my academic library doesn't get a lot of, but which are useful to recommend to pro se people. One concern that I have about netLibrary is that although it's a decent enough collection, it's homogenous. There is little room for customizing a library's netLibrary collection. I worry that as library budgets are cut, which tends to happen, cash-strapped libraries might rely more on their netLibrary collection (which is also quite cost effective for the library) as opposed to their print collections which are chosen locally. The danger is that library collections, like bookshops, will become too homogenized and centralized. I'd now like to mention my experiences reading an eBook at home on the Adobe Reader. This has been my first experience with eBooks at home. Until the recent release of the Adobe Reader, no eBook readers were available for Mac OS X users. I downloaded two eBook versions of Nineteenth Century novels from Amazon. They were much cheaper than the print editions - only around $2-3. I am not interested in buying eBooks unless I get a substantial discount! There were a few hoops involved in getting past Adobe's much-reviled DRM, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Of course, I haven't yet tried to move my eBooks to a different computer, so I haven't really felt the claws of the DRM personally. So I'm now reading Charles Dicken's Dombey and Son on my iBook via the Adobe Reader. This book is over a thousand pages long. I thought that it would be strange and difficult to read a novel like this as an eBook. Actually, in some ways it's more comfortable. I can lie in bed with the iBook on my chest and have the Adobe Reader automatically scroll at a slow speed which matches my reading. This saves me from a lot of scrolling and I can easily vary the speed if I need to. If I'm feeling particularly lazy, I can have the iBook read the book aloud to me. Admittedly, computer-generated voices are still quite nasty and very expressionless. It's also nice to be able to change the size of the text, and highlight pages and make notes without damaging the book. As a librarian, I have a major and irrational hang-up about marking up my own personal copies of books. I think that eBooks have a lot of potential and I hope that they can work out. One of their biggest attractions for me is that they can reduce the growth of my bulky and heavy printed book collection. (It's so easy to accumulate books, and if I move back to Tasmania, I'm going to have a huge freight bill to move it) If eBooks ever going to take off, they'll need to overcome these three hurdles. Cost - eBooks must be significantly cheaper than printed books. Although I bought Dombey and Son and Anna Karenina cheaply - this was for the most generic bare-bones Amazon.com eBook edition. I should also be able to buy an eBook of a Penguin edition with a critically acclaimed translation and introduction for only a little bit more. Content - People need to get into the habit of reading eBooks. This won't happen until it's the rule and not the exception that all new titles are published as eBooks. DRM - This must be easy to set up and unintrusive for the average reader. DRM which makes it difficult for consumers to keep their purchased content as they upgrade their hardware or software, or backup their purchases will keep people away from eBooks. The only reason why DRM exists is because the content providers don't trust their customers. In this case, Adobe doesn't trust Adobe Reader users not to upload their eBooks onto a web site where anybody could download them for free, or make them available to the world on peer-to-peer file sharing services. I think that content owners have a legitimate concern here. But the thing is that trust is a two-way street. For consumers to buy-into eBooks, they need to trust that they're not paying money for something that will disappear in a year or two - or whenever the content owners happen to feel miserly. So how can content owners say to consumers, "trust us that your eBooks will not disappear because of a computer problem or one of our whims" when it's clear that they don't trust consumers at all? [the new fair and balanced explodedlibrary.info] 9:46:52 PM    comment []

Andrew sez No, That's Not Gibberish. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch.... Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. [David Harris' Science & Literature] Scary thing is, it looks like that's right. Wow. 9:44:18 PM    comment []

Johnny Cash, 1932-2003. He was the Man in Black and the man with the voice that sounded like black coffee. America's greatest protest singer, a seminal figure in both rock and country, is dead at 71. [Salon Headlines] 5:19:05 PM    comment []

Beatles group sues Apple over trademark. Apple Corps, the corporate arm of rock legends The Beatles, confirms it has again sued Apple Computer for trademark infringement. This time, iTunes is the problem. [CNET News.com] 5:17:16 PM    comment []

ENDBLOG. LAST POSTCARD FROM COSTA DEL BLOG Time for me to get back to my day job, which means that it’s time for me to stop blogging. I’ve found blogging to be a low-impact activity, mildly narcotic and mostly quite convivial, but the thing I’ve most enjoyed about it is how it never fails to underline the fact that if I’m doing this I’m definitely not writing a novel – that is, if I’m still blogging, I’m definitely still on vacation. I’ve always known, somehow, that it would get in the way of writing fiction, and that I wouldn’t want to be trying to do both at once. The image that comes most readily to mind is that of a kettle failing to boil because the lid’s been left off. The bits and pieces that Joseph Cornell assembled in his shadow-boxes wouldn’t have seemed nearly as interesting if he’d simply left them arrayed on the bench of some picnic-table –- and they certainly wouldn’t still be there. I crave the sweet and crazy-making difficulties that can only be imposed by the box, the Cornellian stage, the frame, of a formal narrative. So I’m out of here, as of this installment, and wish to thank everyone who in any way furthered my ‘tween-books holiday. It’s been ludic, as the anarchist says. Perhaps I’ll be back, one day, somewhere on the far side of whatever it is I’m about to start writing. Adios, then, to all. And onward! [Gibson Blog] 2:41:07 PM    comment []

Study: Wi-Fi proliferating in homes. More people are using wireless networking technology Wi-Fi in their homes than in offices or public places, according to research firm IDC. [CNET News.com] 2:31:46 PM    comment []

Gerard says: Stop the Spaminsanity Everybody who is spending endless cycles on SPAMrage needs to step away from the keyboard, take some Tantric breaths and ask themselves... Two questions: 1) Just how much easier do SPAM filters have to be for you to use them, First Grade or Kindergarten? 2) What do you think God made the 'Delete' key for? I've been listening to this endless group rant since the dawn of "The Great Green Card" flame war and I've had it up to here with the ceaseless sour, ill-made whine. It sometimes seems that if SPAM did not exist, Wooly Webheads would invent it just so they had something to spew about whenever the latest outrage from Microsoft or the Justice Department paled. Gilmore has it right. Spam's here. Spam's clear. Filter it. Delete it. Get over it and pour youself a nice hot steaming cup of STFU. 1:34:58 PM    comment []

NetDay Speak Up Day, October 29: NetDay Speak Up Day will be a widespread effort to reach out to students across the US and to learn how they are using technology and the Internet. Public and non-public schools will lead classroom discussions while students take part in an online survey. NetDay will report the results to participants, partners, and to the U.S. Department of Education for inclusion in the National Technology Education Plan. To "Speak Up," a school must register prior to the event, receive a template with a series of questions and teacher and classroom support materials to guide them through the process. On the day of the event the comments pertaining to the questions will be submitted online through the NetDay website. 11:33:49 AM    comment []

Web Celebs: Spread of jokes on the Internet about real people raises privacy, legal issues. By Vanessa Hua, S.F. Chronicle. On Mahir, the Star Wars Kid (who needed psychological help after he became, er, famous), and others, with insights from Lee Tien (of the Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Steve Jones (cyberculture academic at Illinois, Chicago). 10:33:40 AM    comment []

ACLU's College Freedom Tour: Political forums will be lead by Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU; comedians Dave Chappelle and Andy Dick; humorist Bob Somerby, radio personality, Amy Goodman; and critically acclaimed poet, musician, actor and civil rights activist, Saul Williams. Musical performances by hip hop duo dead prez, Mystic, and acclaimed female DJ Kuttin Kandi. The tour will engage students on civil liberties issues such as racial justice, affirmative action, free speech, and the USA PATRIOT Act, with a particular focus on how that Act infringes upon the rights and freedoms of students. 8:33:00 AM    comment []

The Worms of Sept. 11. This may be a day of solemn remembrance for most, but for some virus writers it's merely another opportunity to remind us that they're still out there. [Wired News] 7:24:22 AM    comment []

Joe Conason's Journal. Leaked Republican poll: Voters think America's on the wrong track, worried about jobs. [Salon Headlines] 7:23:29 AM    comment []

R.I.P., Johnny Cash. He Walks The Line. Country legend Cash dies. Singer Johnny Cash, one of country music's most iconic stars, dies in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 71. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition] Actually, I'd say Cash was far more than just "one of country music's most iconic stars" - he's one of America's most iconic FIGURES. Period. We're the better off for having ever had the chance to hear him sing. Rest easy, Mr. Cash. [Andrew Bayer Is Dreaming of China] 7:23:11 AM    comment []

RIAA counterpoint: Pie Rats strike back -- Scott Rosenberg. (thanks, Xeni!) 7:21:21 AM    comment []

RIAA counterpoint: Pie Rats strike back -- Scott Rosenberg, in Salon. (thanks, Xeni!) 7:21:05 AM    comment []

Website: Westerners Pretty Rich. You may be a poor working slob with a pathetic salary, but compared with 99 percent of the world's population, you're stinking rich. A new website starkly illustrates just how well off we are in the West. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News] 7:17:10 AM    comment []